S otheby’s is pleased to present Magnum Opus, a curated selling exhibition of fifty photographs representing five decades of work by the pioneering artist and environmentalist Sebastião Salgado. 100% of the proceeds will benefit the critical reforestation operations of Instituto Terra, the acclaimed Brazilian conservation nonprofit co-founded in 1998 by the artist and Lélia Deluiz Wanick Salgado.
The fifty photographs were chosen by Sebastião Salgado and Lélia Deluiz Wanick Salgado specifically for the Sotheby’s selling exhibition. These images are representative of the major photographic projects carried out by Sebastião Salgado during almost five decades of exploring the planet. They include some from his two most recent series, Amazônia and Genesis, each the result of seven years’ work, as well as from older projects, such as Other Americas, Sahel and Workers. Also present are images from the Brazilian gold mine, Serra Pelada, and from the burning oil fields of Kuwait, set alight on orders of Iraq’s Saddam Hussein in 1991.
Curated by Lélia Deluiz Wanick Salgado, the exhibition features direct-from-studio platinum prints of many of the artist’s most significant and well-known images taken between 1978 and 2018. It is the first time that viewers will be able to experience Salgado’s defining imagery—as well as several rarer images from within these celebrated series—in this quality and size.
Magnum Opus is accompanied by a musical composition from the French composer François-Bernard Mache.
For information on pricing and availability please contact Emily Bierman, Global Head of Photographs, at emily.bierman@sothebys.com.
Sotheby's New York, 1334 York Avenue
26 September–12 October 2022
Monday–Saturday 10am–5pm
Sunday 1pm–5pm
Emily Bierman
Senior Vice President
Global Head of Department
Photographs
+ 1 212 894 1149
Emily.Bierman@sothebys.com
